TWEM Vol. 8 Chapter 4 Part 2
“—Guh!”
The shockwave blew me away and I rolled on the ground.
I quickly regained my balance and turned towards Lucifer. His appearance hadn’t changed, but the amount of magic power contained within him had increased.
He had most probably activated a skill similar to “Extreme Break” – a skill that increased ability and restored magic power when activated.
That meant that it would be difficult for me to win in my current state.
It would be a big burden to activate, but I didn’t think I could win unless I also used Extreme Break.
Lucifer spoke as he looked down at me.
“I didn’t want to use this, but I have no choice. You are worthy of me using it. That’s what I’ve decided.”
“…I see.”
“Hehe, well then, here we go.”
Lucifer disappeared from my sight.
“–!?”
My presence detection skill reacted to something behind me.
I didn’t have time to activate teleportation.
Having made my decision, I used Ground Shrink to leave the area.
Lucifer’s blow tore through the ground, taking the Evil God’s army with it as he flew away.
“Are you dragging your allies down with you?”
“They know that if they die, they will be offered to Lord Chronos. Whether they are killed by the enemy or by me, there is no difference. In the end, it is the same ‘death’.”
“…Ah, I understand that now. You are scum.”
“You can say that as much as you want. You have no chance of winning.”
“If you think so, that’s fine. That means that this is your limit. So I will show you too —Extreme Break!”
The moment I said that, magic power within my body overflowed, spiraling up towards the sky.
Power surged forth, but the effect would not last long.
The same could be said for Lucifer.
I pointed the tip of my drawn sword at Lucifer.
“I have to defeat the Evil God after this. I need to defeat you quickly.”
“Again, calling my Lord an Evil God… you deserve a thousand deaths. I will inflict pain worse than death on you.”
As we glared at each other, it was Lucifer who made the first move.
As he poured magic power into his magic sword, he disappeared before my eyes.
However, using my Extreme Break, my eye caught sight of Lucifer moving into the air.
The magic sword swung down and unleashed a slash, trying to cut me in half.
If I chose to dodge here, my allies would suffer some damage.
Having made my decision, I poured magic power into my beloved sword and unleashed a slash as well.
The two slashes collided, creating a large shock wave.
After a few seconds, both of our slashes disappeared, and I leapt toward the floating Lucifer.
A storm of swordplay followed. Both of us were losing strength, and our wounds were gradually increasing.
Lucifer, who had distanced himself from me, looked at me.
“—I never thought you’d go this far.”
“Thank you, I’ll say that. And I never thought the fight would be this tough.”
Without a decisive blow, our strength was being worn down, but that was the same for both of us.
In an attempt to break out of this situation, Lucifer unleashed a spell.
“Then —Elmekia Zero!”
It seemed to contain more magic power than the first time, and it had greater power.
So, to counter it, I put more magic power into my spell and unleashed it.
“—Explosion!”
Immediately afterward, a huge explosion occurred.
The explosion engulfed the surrounding area, and I teleported behind Lucifer.
“I got you!”
Lucifer swung his magic sword. The sword approached to slice through my chest, but I kicked the barrier in the air and moved.
“What?! You’re using the barrier as a foothold?!”
Lucifer exclaimed in shock.
“Is this the first time you’ve seen this? The point is, it can be used in any way you like.”
I created a barrier around me and moved like a bouncy ball, attacking with magic.
Lucifer was unable to dodge and took attacks from all directions, gradually accumulating damage.
However, this would take too much time to defeat him.
I sheath my sword and draw it.
“—Cherry Blossom Flash – Wild Dance!”
My beloved sword approached Lucifer with boundless force.
“Don’t underestimate me!”
However, Lucifer swung his magic sword and deflected my attack.
I distanced myself and breathed hard. This was bad, my stamina was about to run out.
However, it seemed that Lucifer was feeling the same way, and he was out of breath.
“Let’s settle this, Lucifer.”
“Very well. Let’s settle this now.”
We took some distance between us and channeled our magic powers into our swords.
The techniques I had used up until now wouldn’t work against Lucifer.
So I would have to create a new technique.
I closed my eyes deeply and imagined the technique in my head.
A godlike strike that cut through everything faster than light.
“Then this ends —Hell Hellel!”
Lucifer shouted this as he swung his sword down.
I opened my eyes, took a breath as I looked at the approaching strike, and quietly muttered the name of the technique.
“—Cherry Blossom Flash – Divine Strike.”
I drew my sword with godlike speed. And then, the sound of my sword being sheathed rang out.
Immediately afterwards, Lucifer’s powerful strike disappeared.
“—Gaha…”
Then Lucifer spat blood from his mouth and fell to his knees.
“What on earth…”
Lucifer didn’t seem to see my attack.
“It’s simple. My attack hit first. That’s all.”
What I’d unleashed earlier was the fastest and most powerful blow I could use.
In that instant, a crimson sword flash had passed by with lightning speed that Lucifer couldn’t even see.
Seeing Lucifer’s magic power decrease, I also released my Extreme Break.
I felt tired all at once after releasing it, but I endured it and slowly walked over to Lucifer and told him.
“I won.”
“I lost, huh… Fine. I’ll let you win this time. But next time I’ll win.”
Lucifer laughed, but he himself knew that there would be no next time.
The reason for this was simple. This was because Lucifer was an apostle of the Evil God, Chronos.
In other words, just like Eleos, he would probably offer himself to the Evil God.
And just as I expected, Lucifer’s feet slowly turned into particles of light and began to disappear.
Lucifer muttered as he gazed at the floating castle.
“–Lord, I offer my all to you..”
Finally, he looked at me and said,
“Haruto, I can assure you that you cannot defeat our Lord Chronos.”
“If there is even a 1% chance of winning, then I will bet on it. All for the sake of protecting those I hold dear.”
“I see. Then struggle and resist. But you will end up in despair…”
As he said this, Lucifer’s body completely turned into particles and disappeared into the sky.
“—If what awaits me is despair, then I will simply overcome that despair.”